What You Need To Know About Last Night's House Races

While there are a number of races that have gone into overtime — including close races in North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and California — the Republican Party has maintained their majority in the House of Representatives despite gains from Democrats in some unexpected places.

232 Republicans — 192 Democrats

11 unknown races

Before the election there were 242 Republicans to 193 Democrats.

The New York Timesdescribed 82 House races as battleground races. Some of them were in new districts with no prior incumbent. Others were open races, where the current Representative has either retired or moved to a new district as a result of the 2010 redistricting. Still others had embattled incumbents in the toughest races of their careers.

Here's what's happened so far in the crucial 82 races:

The Democrats held 15 of the battleground seats they were defending

The GOP held 26 of the battleground seats they had to defend

The Democrats won 22 seats, 17 of them from Republicans and 5 in new districts

The GOP won 9 seats, all from Democrats

Nine races are still undecided. Those seats are mostly GOP incumbents.